Posts tagged comics review

In case you need a refresher, since it’s been awhile, I’m going to take a brief look at what happened in the last series of Sage Escape comics before we jump into the brand new issue that just came out.

Previously: Sage survived the destruction of her village by Friendly Corp and seeks revenge. She travels to Mars and learns the person responsible for the media cover up was Elvis Cray. She assassinates him and is hunted down for it. We last left her trapped in an emergency escape pod, falling endlessly through space.

We pick up in the midst of a final conflict between the salesman assassin empire and the human resistance. Two ships on opposite sides of the conflict will discover the escape pod which holds our hero, Sage. Who will get to Sage first? And what will she do when she finds herself caught in the middle of the war? The first chapter in the “Equinox” storyline sets up what promises to be another grand adventure with Sage. This issue came out April 15th, so use your tax money and join us, won’t you? It looks like we’re going to be in for a treat. I’d hate for anyone to miss all the excitement.

Previously on 24… Jack has been trying to help protect his girlfriend’s family from the Russian mobsters who are after them. Things got tense though when said mobsters came knocking on the door. Will Jack be able to save them? Let’s find out…

We’re now on issue #3 of our adventure with Jack in Ukraine, and things are really starting to heat up. The Russian mob is after him and his girlfriend Sofiya’s brother (Petro). In the last issue Jack was able to save Petro’s family, but in this issue we see that Sofiya has been kidnapped by the mobsters, and they are now looking for an exchange: Sofiya’s life for Jack. Now Jack has to find a way to save her.

SUPER SPOILER TIME! STOP READING IF YOU WANT TO STAY SURPRISED.

Everything seems pretty straightforward up until this point. Jack needs to save his girlfriend, plus the CIA is still after him (but finally starting to wonder if there’s more going on than they realize). The big twists come at the end. One is that while Jack is gearing up to meet the Russians, his girlfriend manages to escape in a scene I imagine would have been pretty badass in the tv series. So Jack is walking into what is probably a trap right now, and doesn’t even have to. Hopefully Sofiya can contact him before it’s too late. Oh, and he also has to watch out for the CIA because Petro’s kid has just called in with information on his whereabouts. Pretty much Jack is in all kinds of trouble, but it’s not like that is anything new. Will he be able to handle the Russian mob and the CIA without getting caught (or worse)? We’ll have to wait to find out. Personally I hope the CIA shows up at Jack’s meet-up with the mob and ultimately ends up helping him escape by accident. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let you know how right or wrong I was as we continue this adventure with our hero: Jack Bauer.

Note: There might be some mild spoilers in this review but nothing too serious. Still, if you haven’t read it yet and want everything to be a surprise then maybe give it a quick read first. Thanks, and enjoy.

When reading Loki: Ragnarok and Roll #1, the first word that came to mind to describe it was “whimsical”. This is a fun and different take on Loki and the sibling rivalry between him and his brother Thor. One thing that is different about this one is that it is sympathetic to Loki, so if all you’re used to is Thor always being the hero then you’re in for a treat. Here we have Loki constantly vying for his father’s attention and being overshadowed by his brother. The comic almost makes us feel sorry for him, especially when the two brothers go on a mission together and Loki gets punished for failures that were totally his brother’s fault. So not fair! He turns his lemons into lemonade though, which seems to be what further issues will focus on.

Overall this first issue was a lot of fun. My favorite random part of the comic was a scene where you see Odin in a banquet hall with literally every god you could think of, including the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Yes, even the internet gods are real. I look forward to more adventures with Odin’s other son.

Apparently, Chin Music is about a guy named Shaw who can leap through time and possesses supernatural powers. He’s on the run from some other creepy dudes who also have powers, like tearing his skin from his bones. Apparently he has landed in Prohibition era Chicago and must now contend with the local police, gangsters and the supernatural underground. I say apparently because Image Comics tells me that this is what’s happening in Chin Music, but to be perfectly honest I only understood about half of that premise reading through issue #1.

I hate to criticize Steve Niles at all because I really love pretty much everything he puts his pen to, but this introduction just didn’t connect with me, story wise. There’s a lot going on, but not all of it is clear. Granted, it’s a pilot issue, so there’s lots more story to tell and time to tell it. I have all the faith in the world that Niles will pull the plot together in future issues and that my confusion will disappear. Not being crystal on what’s going on in this issue doesn’t necessarily mean I didn’t enjoy it, however. It is action packed, moody, violent and spooky. I just don’t ‘get it’ yet.

The artwork by Tony Harris is brilliant here. It’s thick with atmosphere and very, very pretty. Some of the panels are framed in art deco borders, like intricate picture frames. This lends quite a bit of flourish to the pages and really helps set the retro style of the book. Harris’ characters all seem to have large, chunky facial features and knobby knuckles, but it’s less of a distraction than a style. I found his play with color and texture very pleasing to look at.

All in all, Chin Music seems like it could be a quality series. As long as the story isn’t too difficult to grasp, there’s a good idea here and some unique styling. I’ll definitely be keeping up with this one and am anxious to see Steve Niles develop it further.